Revision as of 20:14, 8 November 2015

Rice

Burning paddy stubbles

The Times of India, Nov 03 2015

Amit Bhattacharya

NASA satellite pictures reveal how the problem of paddy-stubble burning has evolved since 2000; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, November 3, 2015

Widespread crop burning began over dozen yrs ago

Satellite images reveal age-old norm

The practice of burning paddy stubbles in Punjab and Haryana has of late been recognised as a major contributor to air pollution in the national capital region during October-November. Satellite images, however, reveal that the problem had already reached alarming proportions as early as 13 years ago. Farm fires in the region began to register in satellite images in year 2000. Not that stubble burning did not take place before that, but the practice probably became widespread enough in 2000 for it to show up in the 1-square-km resolution satellite images. By 2002, the `fires spots' in the satellite pictures had filled up almost the entire state of Punjab and parts of northern Haryana.

TOI obtained the data from Nasa's FIRMS Fire Mapper website, which enables users to access satellite imagery from the past.

To get a season-wide picture perspective, cumulative fire data was considered from October 1 to November 10 -a 40-day period when farmers in the region burn their paddy stubble to prepare the fields for the next crop.

What the information reveals is that successive governments in the states have failed to check the practice despite a law that bans stubbleburning. The problem assumes more serious proportions with each passing year due to the fact that pollution from other sources are on the rise in NCR. So, the added pollutants that come from biomass burning make the situation graver.

The concentration of farm fires in Punjab and northern Haryana shows the extremely high proportion of farmers opting to grow paddy during the kharif season. As Ruby Singh Sandhu, a big farmer from Mallekan village in northern Haryana puts it, “Farmers in the cotton growing areas of Punjab and Haryana have been slowly shifting to paddy for more than a decade now.“

Delicious tamarind rice recipe

The Times of India

Tamarind rice

Ingredients

Rice: 200 gms Chana dal: ½ tsp Urad dal: 1/2tsp Mustard seeds: ½ tsp Red chillies whole: 4-5 Curry leaf: 6-10 Fenugreek seeds: ½ tsp Green chillies: 2-3 Ginger- one small piece Tamarind puree: 3-5 tsp Turmeric: 1 tsp Peas: 50-100gms Salt to taste Oil: 50 ml

Method

Steam cook rice. Let the rice cool down a bit. Take a kadhai (pan). Pour oil and heat the oil. Add the tadka of mustard, urad chana, fenugreek seeds, halved red chillies and currey leaves. As soon as the mustard seeds start to crackle add chopped green chillies and sliced ginger. Add salt and peas to this tadka.

In a separate kadhai, take the tamarind puree. Add 10 to 20 ml of water to it. Add turmeric. Add let heat the mixture. Bring it to boil. Add this mixture to the tadka. Now, take rice in a flat and large vessel. Add the entire tadka and tamarind mixture to it. Mix all the ingredients well. Sprinkle some oil on the top. Mix well.